Bradley lugs losing streak as it rambles up to Loyola

CHICAGO — A road losing streak unlike any other in program history cloaks the Bradley men’s basketball team as it prepares to end those woes in the city where it last tasted non-Peoria success.

Bradley takes on Loyola at 7 p.m. Thursday for the first Missouri Valley Conference matchup between two old rivals who’ve played each other since 1928.

The Braves (9-14, 4-6) won at the Gentile Center the last two times they played the Ramblers (8-14, 3-7) there, in 2007 and 2009. But in more recent years, the Braves have had precious few triumphs away from their friendly hometown confines.

BU is 0-10 away from home this season and has dropped 13 consecutive games played outside Peoria since a 63-62 win last Feb. 23 at Illinois-Chicago. The 13-game slide away from BU matches the longest in program history, equaling a 13-game road (0-10) and neutral (0-3) skid during the 1991-92 season.

The Braves also have lost 13 straight Valley road games. With another defeat on Thursday, they would match the school’s longest Valley road losing streak, a 14-gamer from 2004-06. Bradley is 2-32 in its last 34 Valley road games.

“At some point it ought to weigh on the kids,” said BU coach Geno Ford. “The reality is we’ve experienced zero success on the road and played poorly in the majority of those games. Get beyond Milwaukee and Indiana State and I’d be hard pressed to give you our third-best road performance.

“We’ve addressed it a lot recently. But the bottom line is whenever you discuss winning on the road, it’s always talking about toughness. They understand that, but we have to go out and do something about it.”

The Gentile Center won’t be a particularly intimidating venue. The smallest arena in the Valley (4,486 capacity) has averaged just 1,650 in 10 home games this season, quite a dropoff from Valley departee Creighton, which is averaging 17,633 in its first Big East season.

Thursday’s game should be even less daunting to BU because of the large Bradley alumni base in the Windy City that always shows for this matchup.

“The thing about our arena is what it could be,” said Loyola coach Porter Moser. “It’s going to be a very tough venue when we get it to where we want it.”

Moser has a young team, led by freshman sensation Milton Doyle, a 6-foot-4 guard who considered Bradley before grabbing an offer from Kansas.

During a redshirt year, though, the Chicago Marshall graduate saw little playing time in his future with the Jayhawks and came back home. His 16.5 scoring average is tops among Valley freshmen.

His backcourt teammate is Peoria native Jeff White, the Manual graduate and son of former Bradley standout Charles White.

“They’re going to be two really good guards in this league,” Moser said. “They’ve both been playing so many minutes, sometimes it’s hard for young players to give that (maximum) effort for so long. But their arrow keeps going up because of their desire to keep getting better.”

Said Ford: “We thought Doyle would be a really good Valley player and we tried to get him. Jeff White had no interest in staying in Peoria, but we thought he’d be a good Valley player, too.”

Ford is also concerned with LU power forward Christian Thomas, who he compares to his own Tyshon Pickett.

“They’re both tough, undersized power forwards who score and rebound well,” he said. “Loyola is close to being a really good team. They can really shoot the 3 and their big guys play with energy and physicality.”

Being away from home, Bradley must more than match that toughness quotient. “There’s so much pressure on us defensively, it’s harder to win on the road where you have to hold the home team down rather than win with your offense,” Ford said. “There’s a ton to play for as we head into the stretch drive. We’ve played our best basketball at Carver Arena. But we need to be playing our best basketball heading to St. Louis.”

BRAVES BRIEF: Bradley assistant coach Jaden Uken did not make this trip because of the death of his father, Jake Uken, on Tuesday. Jaden Uken, who has been in Nebraska with his father since last week, is expected back with the team for the Sunday home game against Evansville.

Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or dreynolds@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @davereynolds2.